Community News & Notes: October 5

Over the past two weeks the club has been active in the community, and the team’s community relations efforts are ramping-up alongside the Crew’s postseason push for the 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs.

More than 200 participants from the Crew's "Get a Kick Out of Reading" summer challenge attended the September 29 match against Philadelphia and had the chance to meet Crew legend Frankie Hejduk. The Crew partnered with the Columbus Metropolitan Library this summer to offer this unique program. K-12 students that read for 90 minutes each week during the month of August each received two tickets to the game and a meet-and-greet opportunity with the former Crew captain and U.S. Men's National Team star. Hejduk read from soccer-themed children's books and signed autographs at the event.

The sixth annual Crew Soccer Foundation Soccer Aid Auction & Raffle took place during the Crew’s September 29 match. Soccer Aid is a unique annual fundraiser that draws on soccer fans' passion for the sport to raise money for charitable causes, including the Crew Soccer Foundation and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Fans had the chance to bid on and win more than 70 signed items from sports stars around the world. More than $7,000 was raised during the event.

Next up is the “Crew Takes Over Your School” event, awarded to the winner of the 2012 Ohio Education Association Educator Appreciation Day. This year’s winner is Mount Vernon Middle School, where Hejduk and current players Will Hesmer, Tommy Heinemann and Bernardo Anor will participate in a special day of activities and surprises for students, teachers and staff. We’ll have more content from this event in the days to come right here on TheCrew.com